President of theAfrican Paralympic Committee, Samson Deen, has made a request to postpone the upcoming Games from September to November due to ongoing delays in facility completion.
Ghana, the host country for the event scheduled to take place from September 3 to 12, 2023 in Accra, appears to be unprepared for the competition.
The Legon stadium, designated for track and field events, has yet to be finished, posing a potential risk to the timely commencement of the continental sports extravaganza.
In an interview with Joy Sports, Deen disclosed that proposals have been submitted to reschedule the starting date, allowing additional time for the necessary construction work to be completed.
“We had a stakeholder meeting with the international federations and at the same time, the entire African membership where we have made a bit of proposals to postpone the games from September to November to try to fix the challenges before time,” he said.
Samson Deen, the president of the African Paralympic Committee (AfPC), has visited the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, Primary Education, and Sports to discuss including parasport on the agenda of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) at its upcoming meeting.
In order to include para-sport in its bid and hosting of the African Games as a stand-alone event after the Olympic event, the African Paralympic Committee (AfPC), which owns and runs the African Para Games within the African continent, has taken steps to collaborate with the African Union Sports Council (AUSC).
Samson Deen, the president of the AfPC, has started working with the African Union (AU) Member States’ Ministries of Sports to include parasport in the AUC’s Specialized Technical Committees.
During the visit, Samson Deen seized the opportunity to meet, discuss and share with the representative of the Hon. Minister of Sports, Mr Abderrazzak Akkari, who is the Director of Sports at the Ministry of National Education, Primary Education and Sports, some vital information of mutual interest regarding the Inclusion of Para Sport, bidding and hosting, participation and organisation strategy.
The AfPC also proposed it will need the support of the majority of the AU Member States to support the inclusion of the AGENDA in the next sitting of the Specialized Technical Committee.
Ghana is set to host the First African Para Games, Accra 2023, which was slated for 3rd to 12 September 2023 in Accra, Ghana, but could see the date for the commencement of the event pushed further backwards after the AUSC communicated with its members a new date had been proposed for the African Games 8-23 2024.
The Ministry presented a Souvenir of the forum and gifts as a token of appreciation and gratitude for the excellent cooperation, presented by Mr Abderrazzak Akkari, who is the Director of Sports at the Ministry of National Education, Primary Education and Sports and the President of the Royal Moroccan Federation of Sport for Persons with Disabilities Mr Hamid Al Ouni to the President of African Paralympic Committee.
